Weak Alone, Strong Together
by 2Kay7
Summary: Tsuna has an older brother... Tsuna is a genius while Giotto is normal... Tsuna's parents hate him... Tsuna was sold to the Estraneo to be experimented on along with other children... He escaped... He became well known in the mafia under 2 aliases: 'Ombra Demone' and 'Yozora'. Discover how the Tsuna we all love and care for gets through this messed up life of his!
1. Taken

**Hey guys, I'm back and with the new story I told you about it! I just want to let you know that I'm not sure if I want include romance (yaoi) or not in this story, so I put a poll up for it. I'm also sorry if some parts of this story don't flow properly because I had to redo a few parts of the story numerous times. Make sure to vote and remember to review! Also, PM me if you have any questions! I will also try to correct any mistakes I find when I reread it!**

**AGES (for characters in this chapter only):**

**Sawada 'Giotto' Ieyatsu- 8 years old**

**Hibari Kyoya, Sasagawa Ryohei- 7 years old**

**Sawada 'Tsuna' Tsunayoshi, Yamamoto Takeshi, Sasagawa Kyoko, Kurokawa Hana- 6 years old**

_**Warning: Nana-bashing, Iemitsu-bashing, AU and OOC-ish**_

_**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN KHR**_

_(No matter how much I want to)_

Summary: Tsuna has an older brother... Tsuna is a genius while Gioto is normal... Tsuna's parents hate him... Tsuna was sold to the Estraneo to be experimented on along with other children... He escaped... He became well known in the mafia under 2 aliases: 'Ombra Demone' and 'Yozora'. Discover how the Tsuna we all love and care for gets through this messed up life of his!

"Talking"

'_Thoughts'_

_Flashback_

Chapter 1: Taken

"You *SLAP* stupid *SLAP* little *SLAP* piece *SLAP* of *SLAP* **SHIT! **Don't you think by out-smarting your brother, you are better than him! _He_ is way better than you!" Nana shouted at the adorable little six year old Tsuna who was currently rubbing his swollen cheeks. "You damn brat. If only Gio-kun didn't care about you, then we would have made sure that you were out of our lives for good. But I guess that's what makes Gio-kun Gio-kun, after all. He is too kind for his own good. Oh well, at least today's your last day here. But I still can't believe how much they were willing to pay for _you_." Nana said with a smirk that immediately turned into a smile when she mentioned Giotto's name and remembered the brilliant idea that her husband came up with to get rid of Tsuna once and for all. Then her face turned back into a scowl once she realized that she was smiling in front of Tsuna.

"What do you mean by that, Okaa-sa-" Tsuna tried to say but got kicked in the stomach by Nana before he could finish. "You damn ungrateful brat. When will you get it through that fucking head of yours that it's 'Nana-sama'! I thought that you finally learnt your lesson after that 'incident'!" Nana said smirking as she noticed Tsuna paling, as if he was recalling what happened in regards to that 'incident'.

"_Please stop!" Tsuna whimpered as Iemitsu continued to beat the living shit out of him. "You fucking brat. What did I say about getting those marks?!" Iemitsu snarled in distaste as he held up one of the tests Tsuna thought he hid pretty well that said 100% in red ink. "Are trying to make our perfect angel, Giotto, look stupid and flawed?! Just because you're smarter than him won't make you perfect, you brat. And there's no way in hell you're going to be Vongola Decimo just because your flames are purer and stronger than Giotto's." Iemitsu said as he grabbed Tsuna by the neck and lifted him off of the ground and began to choke him with a grip so tight that it formed a bruise around his throat. All Tsuna could think about is what his father was talking about when he said 'Vongola Decimo' and something about his 'flames' being purer and stronger than Giotto's._

"_Don't you dare try this again, trash. Next time, I won't be as kind as I was this time." Iemitsu said as he let go of Tsuna and watched him fall to the ground painfully. "Always remember this, you fucking brat; you are a demon… No; you __**are**__ the devil himself. You have and will never be our child; even if we did give birth to you. We are not your parents, and you are not our child. Get that straight, brat." Iemitsu said as he kicked Tsuna down the stairs whom landed with a THUD as Iemitsu walked away, heading towards his bedroom._

_When Giotto heard the THUD, he came running out of the kitchen to see what made that sound. Only find a very weak looking Tsuna lying limply on the floor right in front of the staircase, in his own blood but still conscious. "Mom, Dad!" Giotto screamed at the top of his lungs as he rushed towards Tsuna, holding him is his arms. "Help! Tsuna is… Tsuna is… call an ambulance!" Giotto shouted sounding a bit hysterical as he saw his mother coming from the kitchen and his father coming downstairs 'to see what was going on.' When she looked at the scene before, she smirked and praised her husband mentally for what he did mentally while acting worried as she called for an ambulance while her husband sent her a quick, knowing smile before yelling "Tsuna-fish; what happened to you?!" in a 'concerned' voice as he took Tsuna out of Giotto's arms and held him in his arms. He mentally smirked once he saw that Tsuna was trembling slightly with fear evident in his eyes._

_When they arrived to the hospital, the doctors immediately took Tsuna to check him over. When they finished checking Tsuna over, they had to question Tsuna's 'parents' about the injuries he had sustained; which consisted of: a bruise in a shape of a hand around his neck, a fractured left wrist, a sprained right ankle, old and new scars that littered all over his small, frail body, and the alarmingly amount of bruises that covered his torso. His parents said that they didn't have any idea of where he could have gotten the injuries. They said the only thing they could think of was that Tsuna was being bullied at school (which was partially true since there were people who were very jealous of Tsuna for being friends with most of their school's idols, namely Sasagawa Kyoko, Sasagawa Ryohei and Kurokawa Hana)._

_When the information the doctors got from the parents matched with the information they got from Tsuna, they allowed Tsuna, who had his whole neck, torso, left wrist, and right ankle tightly wrapped in bandages, go home with his 'loving' family. After that, Tsuna stayed home the next day instead of going to school in order to recuperate. Luckily, that day was a half-day, so he wouldn't miss that much school work. Though he didn't have worry about that since his IQ level is insanely high for his age. In fact, Tsuna could very well be in high school right now; to be more specific, in his last year of it too._

"Plus, I only have one child! And that's Giotto!" Nana yelled as she continued to beat him up, thankfully avoiding his fractured hand since she knew Giotto would be suspicious of her if Tsuna's wrist took longer than necessary to heal. "Hai, Nana-sama. I am very sorry for my mistake. Is there anything I can do to make it up to you, Nana-sama?" Tsuna asked while trying to keep his voice even and emotions under control. The last time he got out of control, he 'accidentally' got hit by a car. After Nana heard his offer, she smirked while pondering what she could make him do. "Well, you **could** obediently follow _those people _who are coming for you today without creating a scene so that you could finally be out of our lives for good…" Nana muttered under her breath quickly yet quietly so Tsuna couldn't hear her while Tsuna had a feeling that everything he once knew was going to change drastically; and it's definitely not going to be in a good way.

"Tadaima!" Giotto called out as soon as he entered the door. "Ara? Gio-kun? Shouldn't you still be at school?" Nana asked as she wiped the evil smirk she was wearing and replaced it with her kind, loving, ditsy, motherly smile; trying to act 'normal' in front of Giotto. "Kaa-san, did you forget? It's a half-day today!" Giotto answered cheerfully. Nana just swore inwardly how careless she was that she forgot about today being a half-day at school, but thanked God that Giotto didn't come home any earlier than he did. Then Giotto looked towards Tsuna with a worried expression. "Tadaima, Tsuna." Giotto said with a slight smile. "Are you ok now Tsuna? How are your injuries?" Giotto asked as he was eying Tsuna's injuries with a worried look. "I'm fine, Gio-niichan. My injuries don't hurt as much anymore. Staying home for those two days helped them a lot." Tsuna replied.

Then Giotto looked back towards Nana. "Nee nee Kaa-san, since we've let Tsuna's injuries rest for the past few days, can we go for a walk at the park? I'll make he doesn't overdo it. Please?" Giotto asked Nana with his famous puppy dog look that could make anyone who says 'no' feel like they just murdered someone. "Sure, Gio-kun. Just remember to be careful and stay safe." Nana said with a motherly face and tone that looked completely fake in Tsuna's eyes; but it's not like Giotto could tell the difference between fake and genuine emotions though.

"Hai, Kaa-san." Giotto said before he ran upstairs to change his clothes into home clothes that he could use to play in. Before Tsuna left the room, Nana held his arm with a vice like grip and said, "Now **Tsu-kun**, make sure Gio-kun stays safe and doesn't get hurt. Your father and I personally don't care if anything happens to you, but since Giotto likes you, just make sure you don't get too injured. You don't a repeat of _THAT_ now, do you?" Nana asked (readthreatened) in a nice voice just in case Giotto heard the tone of her voice. Tsuna flinched inwardly but whimpered outwardly as he felt Nana's grip on his arm get tighter and tighter. Then Tsuna hastily nodded his head up and down before Nana released him, leaving a nasty hand print on his upper right arm that could easily be covered by the sleeve of the shirt he was wearing. _'That's going to leave another nasty mark…'_ Tsuna thought to himself as he waited for Nana's permission to go join Giotto, who was waiting outside for him.

ON THE WAY TO THE PARK

"Tsuna? Are you ok? Your cheeks look like they've been slapped hard..." Giotto fussed over Tsuna once he finally noticed how red and swollen his cheeks were. "I'm fine, Gio-niichan. I just slapped my face to wake up since I didn't want to fall asleep while we play." Tsuna lied, not wanting to get hit by Nana and Iemitsu if Giotto found out the truth or worse; that they actually start to abuse him too (they threatened Tsuna if he told Giotto what they were doing, they would abuse Giotto too. Even though Tsuna knew that they most likely wouldn't do it, there still was a possibility no matter how small). "You know Tsuna; if you told me that you were tired, then we could've stayed home." Giotto said. "No!" Tsuna suddenly yelled at Giotto looking a bit scared, startling him a bit. "I mean, since you went to school today we weren't able to spend as much time together as we normally do. And I wanted to play with you today too." Tsuna mumbled. "Awww~ my little Tsu-chan wanted to spend more time with his Onii-chan~! How cute is that?" Giotto teased while Tsuna just blushed.

When Giotto and Tsuna finally got to the park, they decided to play hide-and-go-seek-tag; Tsuna being the one who is it and Giotto being the one who is hiding for the first game. Since Tsuna's ankle was still sprained, they decided that they would walk instead of running when they chase each other. At the end of the game, it was Tsuna who won. "Tsuna, you're really good at this game, you know. It's as if you know exactly where I'm hiding." Giotto joked. _'If only you knew how right you are, Gio-niichan._' Tsuna thought to himself while forcing a laugh. It's true because ever since Tsuna could remember, his intuition were most, if not all of the time correct. It got him out of lots of dangerous situations, for example: running away from bullies, predicting when his parents might try to kill him themselves by getting him into car accidents and what not, learning how to read his parent's facial expressions so that he can tell when they were in a foul mood since they usually turn to him to vent out their frustrations, etc. Well, at least _when_ his intuition acts up. And right now, his intuition, or as he would like to phrase it, HI (hyper intuition) was going crazy. Usually his HI would only act up and give him slight headaches, but this time it was as if his HI was sending warning signals to his head saying that he has to get away from the park ASAP accompanied by a bad headache.

With one look at his watch Tsuna saw that they had already spent about 3-4 good hours of playing outside already. "Let's go home, Gio-niichan. It is getting pretty late. Okaa-sama is probably getting worried." _'Well, she'll only be worried for you though…' _Tsuna sadly continued in his mind. "Ok, Tsuna." Giotto replied as they started to walk out of the park. Before they left the park, Tsuna saw Yamamoto Takeshi, a popular kid in his class, sitting by himself on a swing crying. _'Why is Yamamoto-kun looking so sad? Is he ok? He should smile. Not one of the fake smiles he wears at school but a genuine smile; a true smile that comes from the bottom of your heart.' _Tsuna thought to himself before he told Giotto to go home without him saying that he forgot something.

After Tsuna made sure that Giotto left, he headed towards Yamamoto to make sure he was ok since it was in Tsuna's nature to be more concerned about others than himself. "Are you okay, Yamamoto-kun?" Tsuna asked as Yamamoto quickly spun around to see who it was. Once Yamamoto recognized who it was and saw the injuries that he had, Yamamoto asked "Tsuna, are you honestly asking me if _I'm_ okay? Have you looked at yourself in a mirror?" "Yeah, I have. Why?" Tsuna replied, cutely tilting his head in slight confusion. "I mean, you look pretty beaten up- with your wrist and neck wrapped up in bandages. Plus judging from your current posture, you seem to have a sprained ankle. Normal beaten up people wouldn't go and ask someone who looks slightly depressed if they're ok. That's the question that's supposed to be directed to them instead." Yamamoto said, chuckling a bit. "Well _sorry_ for so looking that beaten up and- Hey! I'm normal! Completely norm-" Tsuna stopped in mid-sentence as he remembered what his father said.

"_You demon, you're not and never will be normal; ever. You're like a curse to us, coming into our lives and trying to mess up my perfect life. Everything would've been perfect if you did not exist. So hurry up and die to get out of our lives already." Iemitsu said as he watched the four year old Tsuna cry, having been verbally attacked for the first time by his very own father nonetheless. "Iemitsu-sama, what did I do that was wrong?" Tsuna asked, trying to hold back his tears. "Just by being alive, you damn brat." Iemitsu said as he left a crying Tsuna._

"-na! Tsu… na! Oi, Tsuna! Are _you_ ok?" a concerned Yamamoto asked. "Yeah, I'm fine; just remembering things that are better off being forgotten." Tsuna said with a pain evident in his voice. "Anyways, I asked you first. Are _you_ ok, Yamamoto-kun?" Tsuna asked once again. This time, Yamamoto chose to answer Tsuna's question. "To be honest with you Tsuna, I'm not ok. In fact, my Mom just died today…" Yamamoto said, looking up at the sky that seemed to have changed from being sunny to rainy. "It seems like my Mom had a high fever today, but she didn't tell me cause she didn't want me to worry. And out of all of the days I played baseball, I decided to stay out and play longer than normal. You know, all of the 'friends' that I have aren't real friends. They just became my friend in order to use me. I used to think that that was alright since I at least had my Mom there with me," Yamamoto explained gloomily. "but now with her gone, I feel like I'm alone in this world. If only I went home immediately after school, if only I didn't spend so long outside playing with my friends, then she wouldn't have gone looking for me! She wouldn't have overworked her body and died! It's my fault that she died!" Yamamoto cried out.

By this time, the sky got from the dark grey clouds that were blocking the sun and the rain that the clouds were holding were threatening to fall. "No, it's not your fault Yamamoto-kun. You didn't know that your Mom had a high fever. She didn't tell you. You didn't know that she would have gone looking for you when you didn't go home around the time she thought you would come home. You didn't _know; _it's not your fault." Tsuna said as the wind began to pick up.

"Shut up! What do you know about me?! In fact, the first time we actually talked to each other was just a few moments ago! So don't try to act like you know how I feel!" Yamamoto stated angrily and hated the fact how Tsuna acted like he knew everything about him when they just began to talk to each other a few minutes ago. "You're right; I don't know you that well. But the same applies to you too. You don't know about me either. You don't know what I've been through just like how I don't what you've been through." Tsuna stated as he unconsciously touched the part of his arm that had the hand-like bruise Nana had created on him not that long ago. "Nee Yamamoto-kun, even though your mother died, isn't your father still there for you? I also think that your older brother would come back too when he finds out. From my knowledge from going to Takesushi, Tsuyoshi-san seems like a one of the best Dads a child could ever wish for and Asari-san seems like a really good brother. I'm pretty sure that just like your mother; Tsuyoshi-san and Asari-san will always be there for you." Tsuna said as he fist bumped Yamamoto's chest as the rain began to fall, unnoticed by the both of them.

"So don't you ever think that you're alone in the world. You're not and never will be alone in this world. You will always have people who would want you around. Unlike me who only has his older brother. If Gio-niichan does end up dying somehow or even begins to dislike me, then I will die. Hopefully not by the hand of my own parents though since Gio-niichan is the only person who is preventing them from killing me; without him even knowing of course." Tsuna determinedly stated as he muttered the last sentence under his breath; hoping that Yamamoto didn't hear him. Unfortunately for Tsuna, Yamamoto _did_ hear him as his eyes widened as he just registered what he had just heard from Tsuna. _'Oh God… Dad was right; Tsuna does need to get out of that messed up family of his! More like get the hell away from those crazed parents of his…'_ Yamamoto thought as he remembered what his father had told him one time at Takesushi after Tsuna had left.

"_Takeshi." Tsuyoshi said in a serious voice. "What is it, Dad?" Takeshi asked. "Do you know that boy… the one who just left the store?" Tsuyoshi asked his son. "Which one Dad?" Takeshi inquired. "The one with spiky brown hair and eyes and that was relatively small for his age." Tsuyoshi replied. "Hmm… Could you be talking about Tsuna?" Takeshi answered unsurely. "Probably; can you tell me his full name and a bit about him?" Tsuyoshi asked. "Sure Pops! His full name is Sawada Tsunayoshi; but he prefers to be called Tsuna. At school he gets bullied by people who are jealous of him because of the friends he has. They are: the Sasagawa siblings, Kurokawa Hana, his older brother Giotto; who real name is Sawada Ieyatsu, and surprisingly Hibari Kyoya, the feared head prefect._

_They call him 'Dame-Tsuna' even though he's not 'Dame' at all. In fact, he's what someone would call a 'genius' or a 'child prodigy' once you look past his clumsiness. In reality, he's super smart, a great athlete, and can be handsome or cute when the situation calls for it. Most people don't know this but he also knows a few different languages. You see, Tsuna tends to trip over nothing most of the time; hence where they got 'Dame-Tsuna' from. They're always looking for his faults and not at what he __**can **__do. If they didn't look for the faults in Tsuna and only focused on what Tsuna could do, then I' pretty sure that he would be pretty popular too." Takeshi explained. "I see…" Tsuyoshi began to say, but Takeshi wasn't done yet._

"_But the only thing that I'm quiet worried about are the bruises that he comes to school with…" Takeshi said. "Bruises?" Tsuyoshi inquired, earning a small nod from Takeshi. "Yeah. So far, I've been keeping an eye out for him to see if he got those bruises from his bullies. And by bullies, I mean the whole entire school excepting a few people. But the most his bullies ever did to him were tripping him and calling him names. There were so many times when I was tempted to go stop them, but every time I try, Tsuna locks his eyes onto mine as his eyes turn from his normal hazel brown eyes to a tangerine-ish orange colour; as if he was preventing me from stopping them. I still don't get why though! One time I asked him about it, and you know what he said Dad?" Takeshi asked his father, earning a nod that signifies to continue._

"_He said 'Because I don't want you to get bullied too. If you did, then everything I've done would have been for nothing. I heard that lots of people who look weak get bullied at school and I thought 'If I looked like the weakest and the easiest to bully, would I be able to take away the pain that other people would have to face at the price of my own? Wouldn't it be better if a demon was the target for bullying instead of a number of people being bullied? Wouldn't it be better if that one demon shouldered and endured the bullying so that no one else would have to be bullied? Wouldn't it be good if that one demon was able to do that?' Then I asked 'If someone were willing to do that, then who would the demon be?'_

_Even though he only answered in a single sentence, I would never be able to forget what he told me. Tsuna said, 'I would be that demon; after all, I'd rather be a demon that protects than a demon that kills' in a small, innocent yet pained and broken smile that I could swear could even make angels cry if they ever saw it. It was like he's been through so much pain even though he was only 6 at the time! Why would Tsuna think that he is a demon when demons don't protect people! Even if he's a genius or a prodigy, he's still six years old, like me!" Takeshi sobbed, frustrated with himself that he couldn't do anything to help Tsuna._

"_Takeshi, correct me if I'm wrong but you said that after observing Tsuna for a while, never once you have seen a bully physically attack Tsuna." Earning a nod from Takeshi, he continued "Does his brother hate him?" "No, Giotto is actually one of the people who don't bully Tsuna and as I said before, he's one of Tsuna's only friends." Takeshi answered as Tsuyoshi went into deep thought. "Then I have an idea who might be harming him." Tsuyoshi finally said. "You do Dad?! Can you tell me?!" Takeshi asked his father. "You may not like the answer you want though, Takeshi. Plus, I'm not 100% certain it's true. It's just a guess." Tsuyoshi explained to his son. Tsuyoshi just sighed when he got a hand motion from Takeshi that just said 'continue.'_

"_His parents." Tsuyoshi finally answered. When Tsuyoshi saw the confused look on Takeshi's face, he explained "His parents might be the ones who are hurting him, abusing him; both physically and mentally, most likely emotionally too. I've got to admit it though; Tsunayoshi is a very strong child. Most children would tend to brake if they were living their lives like Tsunayoshi is. Some of them would be just like a puppet that would move only when someone told them to, they wouldn't have a mind of their own. Others would become bullies themselves because they would think 'If my life is already miserable, why not do the same to someone else?' or they just wouldn't know what they are doing is wrong. Then we have another group of people that would pretend that everything is normal and nothing is wrong with their family life. While in reality they could be going through what Tsunayoshi's going through. But Tsunayoshi on the other hand is in his own grouping altogether."_

"_What do you mean by that Dad?" Takeshi asked. "As you told me before, Tsunayoshi purposely draws the bullies towards himself in order to protect the others around him. Do you think that you would be able to do that?" Tsuyoshi asked his son. Earning a 'no' from his son, he continued "Because of Tsunayoshi's plan, not only is he getting abused at home, but also at school. Even though he's already going through so much pain, he was willing to go through even more to protect other people from getting hurt. I don't think I would have enough strength to endure that while being able to think clearly and not going into depression. I honestly think that Tsunayoshi might be the kindest person in this world. All that I can do is hope for that one day, Tsunayoshi would be able to escape from the grasp that his parents have on him. He needs to get away from his messed up family before it's too late."_

"Anyways," Tsuna said as Takeshi snapped out of what he remembered. "if you do end being alone in the world somehow, then always remember that I'll be on your side. No matter what happens, I'll be there for you because you do not need to know the pain of being alone." Tsuna continued as he retracted his outstretched hand as the rain continued to fall as if trying to wash away Takeshi's grief. "So don't blame yourself for your mother's death. I'm sure that she wouldn't want you to do that too." Tsuna said as he smiled ever so softly that could calm down even the most tempered people. "Arigato, Tsuna… I needed that." Takeshi said as he slung his arm around Tsuna and accidentally touching the bruise on his upper left arm, earning a hiss from the small brunet.

"Are you ok Tsuna?" Takeshi worriedly asked as he saw Tsuna gently touch the spot that caused him pain. Before Tsuna could answer, Takeshi grabbed his right wrist and pulled the sleeve of his shirt that revealed a red bruise in the shape of a hand. Once Takeshi saw this, he saw red. Never once had Takeshi been so angry in his whole entire life before. Unconsciously, his very own grip around Tsuna's wrist began to tighten, earning another hiss from Tsuna. But Takeshi didn't hear that second hiss. All he could think of is how Tsuna got the bruise and how many more littered the frail body as his.

"-kun… go… Ya…-moto-kun… let… go… Yamamoto-kun, let go! TAKESHI, LET GO!" Tsuna yelled as Takeshi finally snapped back into reality and let go of his wrist, revealing another angry bruise that was beginning to form. "Sorry, Tsuna. I'm really sorry… I didn't mean to do that. It's just that when I saw that, I just-" Takeshi tried to apologize as Tsuna gently rubbed his wrist. "I know, and its ok, Yamamoto-kun. I'd do that to if I saw something like that on a friend too…" Tsuna's eyes widened in realization that he just called Takeshi his friend without his permission. "Sorry, Yamamoto-kun. Is it ok with you if I called you a friend? Unless you don't want to be my friend…" Tsuna trailed off, as Takeshi just laughed.

"Of course I'd want to be your friend! What made you think that I wouldn't?" Takeshi asked jokingly. "Maybe… because I'm a demon?" Tsuna offered. When Takeshi heard that answer, he felt something inside of him snap. "Tsuna…" Takeshi said in a dark voice that made Tsuna flinch "Who told you that?" Takeshi asked. "Who told me what?" Tsuna asked confusedly. "Who told you that you are a demon?" Takeshi clarified. "Iemitsu-sama and Nana-sama. Why?" Tsuna answered as he titled his head, still confused. _'You see Pops? I was right. Tsuna might be a genius when it comes to knowledge, but he still is a child like me. He's dense when it comes to people's feelings and his own safety for the most part and far too trusting of what people tell him, but maybe he trusts them because they're his parents, which might be even worse.'_ Takeshi thought to himself.

"Tsuna, those people who you just mentioned are your parents, aren't they?" Tsuna just nodded. "Then why don't you address them as your Otou-san and Okaa-san?" Takeshi asked. "Because they told me to address them like that when Gio-niichan isn't around." Tsuna answered as if it was something obvious. "Then what do you call them when he is around?" Takeshi asked. "Otou-sama and Okaa-sama." Tsuna answered, beginning to get confused at what Takeshi was trying to get at. Takeshi noticed how Tsuna used the sama honorific instead of the san honorific. _'How messed up __**are**__ his parents?'_ Takeshi thought once more. "Do they at least love you when Giotto is around, Tsuna?" Takeshi asked, hoping that they would at least do that much for him, but just as fast as he hoped was as fast as it disappeared. "Lo-ve?" Tsuna asked as if it was his first time trying to say the word with his own mouth which immediately got Takeshi to feel pity for Tsuna. "Yes Tsuna, love." Takeshi tried once more. "What's love?" Tsuna innocently asked. "You don't know what love is?!" Takeshi said with a hint of anger evident in his voice. "Of course I don't know what it is! How am I supposed to know what a word I never heard of before means?" Tsuna huffed, so confused about why Takeshi was surprised to know that Tsuna didn't know what love was that he didn't notice his HI acting up and warning him of the upcoming danger until it was too late.

*"Which one of you is Sawada Tsunayoshi?" a voice asked that immediately grabbed Tsuna's and Takeshi's attention. As they scanned their surroundings, they noticed that there were 5 people wearing black suits and sunglasses standing around them, as if they were preventing Tsuna and Yamamoto from escaping. "I'm Sawada Tsunayoshi." Tsuna answered as all of the men looked at each other, grinning to each other before looking back at Tsuna. "We'll need you to come with us then." One of the men in black said as he grabbed Tsuna's forearm, fortunately not the one with the sprained wrist but unfortunately since his other arm already had 2 hand bruises on it; one from Nana and the other from Takeshi. "Let go!" Tsuna yelled as he began to struggle against the man's grip on his arm. _'Wow… This man's grip on me will probably create another bruise. Wow… 3 hand bruises in one day on the same arm… if I keep this up; I might make a new record.'_ Tsuna thought to himself sarcastically as he continued to struggle.

As the man had his focus solely on Tsuna, Takeshi took this opportunity to kick the man's you-know-what, causing the said man to release his strong grip on Tsuna's forearm as he crumpled to the floor, holding his you-know-what in pain. This caused the rest of the men around them to look at their accomplice who was on the floor grunting in pain as they stared at him in pity as they knew how much that would hurt. Taking advantage of another situation, Tsuna and Takeshi ran as fast as they could to get away from them, hopefully towards a crowd of people that would help them once they see strange men trying to abduct a couple of kids. When the two of them took off in their mad dash, the other men snapped out of their pity for their accomplice and ran after them.

"Let's split up Takeshi." Tsuna suggested as glanced over his shoulder to see the 4 men chasing after them. "Why?" Takeshi asked Tsuna. "Their target is me, so it's better if we split up so you won't be involved with whatever they want from me." Tsuna explained. "Do you know why they're after you?" Takeshi asked. "Not really; but I can take a guess and I might know who sent them after me though." Tsuna said. "Who?" Takeshi inquired, letting curiosity take over him even though they were currently being chased by men in black. "My parents. For some reason, they always try to get rid of me. You remember hearing how I'm accident-prone since I would always end up in the hospital numerous of times after being involved in countless accidents, right?" Tsuna asked as he earned a nod from Takeshi. "Well believe it or not, those weren't 'real' accidents." Seeing the confused look in Takeshi's face, he hesitantly added, "They were planned out by my parents with the intention of killing me" with a saddened voice as they zigzagged through the back streets of Namimori, trying to lose their chasers.

When Takeshi heard this, he felt himself losing control of the anger that was building up inside of him as Tsuna told him the truth of his parent's real nature. "As for the reason why those people are chasing us…" Tsuna said as he was oblivious to the fact that Takeshi was super pissed off at his parents at the moment "Most likely they were hired to kidnap or kill me by my parents. Oh! Now that I think of it, Nana-sama seemed to be in a happier mood than normal. And that usually only happens when they try to get rid of me…" Tsuna trailed off, leaving Takeshi even more furious if it was possible.

"Anyways Yamamoto-kun, at the next intersection, we're going to split up. You go right and I'll go left. That way, hopefully at least you will be spared. If one of them **does** chase after you, then head towards Kyoya. He should still be at school. Tell him that you're being chased by one of the men that are after me and can you also tell this to him, 'I'm sorry. It doesn't look like I'll be able to keep our promise, Kyo-kun. Protect _him_ from them for me too since I won't be able to. Please, Kyo-kun, and thanks.' Pass on that message to Kyoya for me, Yamamoto-kun." Tsuna pleaded as Takeshi said ok.

As they were nearing the intersection, Tsuna said "I'm sorry for getting you involved in this Yamamoto-kun. I don't want you to face anymore danger than you already have just because of my selfish wish of wanting to cheer you up without thinking of your feelings, hoping to see one of your genuine smiles instead of the fake ones you always wear around your friends. You know, you shouldn't force yourself to smile if you don't want to. Only smile when it comes from your heart. Sorry and goodbye, Takeshi. Take care of yourself!" Tsuna said as he turned left while Takeshi turned right at the intersection.

'_Shit! Why is Tsuna apologizing for something he didn't even know was going to happen?! He was concerned about my safety even though he's their target! He's too selfless! He should be more concerned about himself!' _Takeshi thought to himself as he kept running towards his school, glancing back every so often to see if anyone was chasing him. But so far, he didn't see anyone. _'Dammit; all he wanted to do was to help me, to see my real smile! Wait, does that mean that he knew that my smiles at school were fake? Anyways, I got to get to Hibari-san quickly! Ah! There it is!'_ Yamamoto thought as he was nearing the school building. Before he got to school, he glanced back once more and saw one of the men chasing him. _'Tsuna was right! One of them really did follow me! Hold on… Isn't that the one I sacked at the park? Holy shit, it is! It looks like he wants revenge…'_ Takeshi thought to himself as he arrived at school, panting.

As if right on schedule, Kyoya appeared right in front of him. "Herbivore," Kyoya said in his cold, dark voice of his while eyeing Takeshi down with those pair of silver eyes of his. "What are you doing on school property after school hours? That's not permitted. For breaking the school rules, I shall bite you to death." Kyoya continued as he took out his Tonfas. "Hold *PANT* on… Hibari-san. I'm being chased." Takeshi said to Kyoya. "By who?" Kyoya demanded since Kyoya is too cool to ask questions. "By one of the men in black that are chasing Tsuna." Takeshi answered. "Damn… What the hell are his parents thinking, hiring people to get rid of Tsuna?!" Kyoya stated angrily, surprising Takeshi that he also knew what Tsuna's parents were doing to him.

Then all of a sudden, Kyoya's eyes narrowed when he saw the man that Takeshi was talking about enter their school. "There you are, boy. I still need to teach you a lesson for doing that. You need to learn to respect you're elders." The man in black said as he walked towards Takeshi with an evil glint in his eyes that made Takeshi flinch. "Thanks, but no thanks. It was your fault that I had to sack you! You guys were planning on kidnapping Tsuna! Plus you weren't letting him go when he tried to get you to let him go!" Takeshi said as Kyoya got angry at the fact that more people were going after _his_ friend.

Before anyone could notice, Kyoya had already attacked the man with his Tonfas. With a grunt, the man had jumped back, narrowly missing Kyoya's Tonfa that was directed at his lower left abdomen. "Who are you?" The man asked. "President of the Disciplinary Committee." Kyoya said as he proceeded to attack the man. "For attempting to injure and kidnapping, especially to Nami-chuu students, I will bite you to death." Kyoya said as he punched the man's stomach with his Tonfa, successfully knocking him out. "Now herbivore…" Kyoya said as he turned to face Takeshi. "What was this about Tsunayoshi being chased by men?"

"Exactly as it sounds like." Takeshi gritted his teeth as he told Kyoya what happened. "Tsuna also wanted me to tell you this. 'I'm sorry. It doesn't look like I'll be able to keep our promise, Kyo-kun. Protect _him_ from _them_ for me too since I won't be able to. Please, Kyo-kun, and thanks.'" After a long moment of silence, Takeshi asked "By the way, who is Tsuna talking about?" "Giotto, his older brother. Tsunayoshi wants me to protect his herbivore brother from their parents. Apparently they threatened him that if even dares on telling _anyone_ what they're doing to him or tries to run away, they'll do the same thing that they did to Tsunayoshi to the herbivore. That's what he told me when I found out his secret. But I honestly don't think that they'll do that to the herbivore. They love him too much. I have a feeling that Tsunayoshi also knows this, but isn't willing to take the risk. After all, there's always a possibility that they might do that; no matter how small." Kyoya said. Then he suddenly locked his eyes on Takeshi "You must swear to never tell or talk about this to anyone else; you can tell the rest of his friends if the situation calls for it, but you must make them promise to keep this a secret. It'll get ugly if anyone else finds out. Anyways, I'm going to help Tsunayoshi now." Kyoya answered as he walked off. "I'm going to look for him too! I'll Ryohei-senpai, Kyoko and Hana to help!" Takeshi yelled as he began to run towards their houses.

The first house that Takeshi went to was Ryohei and Kyoko's house. When he got there, he knocked on the door and Kyoko answered it. "Yamamoto-kun? What're you doing here? Are you ok?!" Kyoko asked concernedly as Takeshi continued to pant, trying to catch his breath. Behind Kyoko, Takeshi could see Ryohei and Hana coming out to see who Kyoko was talking to. The both of them were surprised not only to see that it was Yamamoto Takeshi but how out of breath he was and how his face was marred with concern.

"Kyoko, *PANT* Ryohei-senpai, Hana…" Takeshi finally said. "Help. Tsuna… Tsuna's being chased! We need to find him before they take him!" "Before who takes him?" Hana demanded, upset that someone was after her friend. "Men in black suits. Hired to kidnap him too. They chased us from the park but Tsuna and I had to split up. One of them chased me and I lead him to Hibari-san then told him about Tsuna. Hibari-san is already looking for Tsuna. When we were thinking of who hired could have hired them, we could only think that _they_ are behind all this. According to Hibari-san, this isn't the first time they did this too. But I have a very bad feeling that something bad is going to happen. I'll explain more as we run, come on!" Yamamoto yelled as he ran out back onto the streets with Kyoko, Hana, and Ryohei looking for Tsuna.

"So, who are these people you're talking about?!" Hana asked impatiently as Takeshi was contemplating on if he should tell them what happened. "What you're about to hear… is a secret that no one else but **us** most know. A secret that Tsuna's been keeping from the moment he was born for all we know. Do you promise to never tell **anyone** about it?" Takeshi asked the 3 of them seriously; who all looked surprised to know that there friend was hiding something from them, something important. "Does this secret of Tsuna's have anything to do with those men who are chasing him?" Kyoko asked. "Maybe… I'm pretty sure it does, Tsuna too… even Hibari-san thinks so too." Yamamoto replied. "What do you mean to the extreme?" Ryohei asked, with a perplexed look on his face **(LOL didn't know that was possible)**. "You'll understand once I tell you his secret. Hibari-san told me the truth about Tsuna when he found out about my suspicions and made me swear to never tell anyone else. Only to you guys if the situation asks for it. So you guys too must swear to never let anyone know about this… or else all of Tsuna's efforts to protect his important person will be useless if **they** know that we know this." Yamamoto said.

"Ok. We swear." Hana said as Kyoko and Ryohei nodded their heads (well, Ryohei added 'TO THE EXTREME!' as he nodded his head). "Did you guys notice how Tsuna always came to school with bruises?" Takeshi asked as he got nods from them. "Have you guys ever wonder where he got them from?" Takeshi asked. "Isn't it from those bullies of his that he never stands up to nor accept our help to get rid of them?" Hana asked. "No, it's not. That's what I thought too, but after observing him for a while, never once had they physically attacked him." Takeshi answered. "Then if it wasn't them, then who was it?" Kyoko asked, tilting her head as they continued to look for Tsuna. "Here's a little hint; Tsuna always acted a little bit off about a certain topic and on days that were set aside for who?" Takeshi said as that got Hana's mind gears turning.

'_The thing that I could think of that makes Tsuna act differently is whenever we bring up the topic of family. On days set aside for who… Mother's and Father's day? Did his family hurt him?! Wait! Hold on a moment! He only acts strange on Mother's and Father's day. Not any day that was for Giotto. Does that mean that their parents are the ones who abused him? Does Giotto even know about this?!' _Hana thought to herself as she was piecing everything together. "His parents… Tsuna's parents are the ones who injured him weren't they, monkey." Hana asked as her best friend and her best friend's brother's eyes widened in surprise. "I knew you could've figured it out, Hana. You're right, his parents are the cause. Not only have they abused Tsuna physically, but also emotionally and mentally too. To the point where Tsuna believes their words of him being a demon." Takeshi answered, ignoring the look of surprise on Kyoko's and Ryohei's faces.

"Then why didn't Tsuna tell anyone? He knows that someone could help him." Hana asked. "Blackmail." Takeshi answered. "His parents told Tsuna that if he dares to tell anyone about them abusing him, they'll do the same thing they did to him to Giotto and much more. We all know how much Tsuna loves and cares for Giotto and wouldn't do anything that would harm Giotto so he never told anyone. That, and he still loves those **damn** parents of his! He doesn't want anything bad to happen to them if he can help it. They don't deserve Tsuna! Not after what they did to him." Yamamoto continued "You know, before those men came, I asked 'Did your parents at least love you when Giotto was around?' and just replied with 'Lo-ve? What's that?' Those damn bastards never even taught him what love is yet he still cares about them!" Takeshi cursed while Kyoko, Hana and Ryohei were surprised once more at what Tsuna had to go through.

"And just think about it, not only was he was getting abused at home, but bullied at school too. The only people that he could actually relax are us, Hibari-san, and Giotto." Takeshi said. "Ne, did you guys actually know that Tsuna's actually a child prodigy; a genius?" Takeshi asked. "He's really smart, athletic, and cute. He may be clumsy to the boot but he's too nice." Takeshi said before anyone could say a word. "Did you guys know? That Tsuna's getting bullied on purpose?" Takeshi asked once again, waiting for no reply he continued, "I found out when I asked him why he was preventing me from stopping the bullies from bullying him. He said he was purposely being the target of bullies so that no one else would have to feel the pain of being bullied. What struck me the most was when he asked 'If I looked like the weakest and the easiest to bully, would I be able to take away the pain that other people would have to face at the price of my own? Wouldn't it be better if a demon was the target for bullying instead of a number of people being bullied? Wouldn't it be better if that one demon shouldered and endured the bullying so that no one else would have to be bullied? Wouldn't it be good if that one demon was able to do that?' And when I asked who the demon would be, he just answered 'I would be that demon; after all, I'd rather be a demon that protects than a demon that kills.'" Takeshi then paused, allowing them to register what they were hearing.

"What I'm trying to say is that Tsuna's strong, not just physically strong (being able to take beatings from Nana and Iemitsu yet act like nothing was wrong), but mentally strong. Even though he gets hurt, he still cares about others' wellbeing more than his own. He's too selfless. That's why when we find Tsuna, I want you guys to help me keep Tsuna safe; safe from his abusive parents, safe from his bullies, safe from anyone else that wants to harm him. He needs to know that he's not alone in this messed up world of his. He needs to know that there are people in this world who are willing to protect him. He needs to know that he's a _human_, not a demon. If this keeps on going on like this, he'll eventually brake. So please help me keep him safe." Takeshi pleaded.

"OF COURSE I'LL HELP KEEP MY OTOUTO SAFE TO THE EXTREME!" Ryohei yelled as he pumped his fists in the air. "Me too, Tsuna's my friend after all, monkey." Hana said. "Un." Kyoko agreed. "Thanks, you guys… Now I have to ask Hibari-san to help us and we'll be fin-" Takeshi was cut off before he could finish speaking. "Tsuna! He's over there! With those men too!" Kyoko exclaimed as she pointed to the park where the men first had approached Tsuna and Takeshi. When everyone turned their heads, they saw a panting Tsuna being surrounded by those men who were slowly advancing just like predators approaching their prey.

"Get away from Tsuna/MY OTOUTO TO THE EXTREME!" Takeshi and Ryohei yelled as they launched their attack on the men. Takeshi managed to sack two of the men **(*GASP* Takeshi's became the sacking master?!) **as Ryohei knocked the other two men out with his EXTREME punches. "EXTREME SPAR!" Ryohei yelled as he proceeded to do the same with the men that Takeshi had personally sacked as Takeshi approached Tsuna. "Are you ok, Tsuna?" Takeshi asked as Tsuna continued to pant, looking down at the ground with his hands on his knees and his back slightly arched, trying to catch his breath.

When Tsuna finally regained his breath, he answered "Yeah. I'm fine. Tired, but fine." Then Tsuna suddenly looked confused expression. "How come you're here, Yamamoto-kun? I thought that you'd want to go back home, where you'd be safe." Tsuna asked. "And leave you alone, allowing you to run around with those weird men chasing you? Nope. I'm not the type of guy who gets saved and then allows his saviour to be captured by the bad guys. I'm pretty sure that you'd go back and help your saviour if you were in my position too, wouldn't you?" Yamamoto answered. "Hahaha… point taken, Yamamoto-kun." Tsuna said as he scratched the side of his check. "Tsuna, just call me Takeshi. We're friends after all, right?" Takeshi requested. "Ok then, Takeshi." Tsuna giggled as Kyoko, Hana and Ryohei approached them.

When Tsuna saw them, he immediately tensed up, wondering if they saw what just happened. Takeshi saw this and said "Its ok, Tsuna. All of us know about your secret. Hibari-san told us since he thought that we would need to know what we were getting into." _Well, Hibari-san only told me and I told them. Same difference though, right?_ Takeshi thought to himself as Tsuna felt himself relaxing.

"Why didn't you tell us about this, Tsuna? We could have helped you!" Hana demanded from her cute brunet friend. "Because… they would've found out and punish you guys too." Tsuna said as his usual doe-like eyes of his began to change into cool, calculative eyes as his eye colour also began to change from caramel-brown eyes to a soft-gold colour that had a slight glowing look to it. Before, you could see the innocence in his eyes, but now it was like could see right through you, as if he knows what you are thinking. All of his friends were surprised when they saw his eyes change. They all had seen them before numerous times (whenever Tsuna got serious) but dismissed it to the lights playing a trick on them.

"You can't tell **anyone**. No matter what happens, you must keep this a secret. If you do, not only will my brother be in danger but you and your families too. Please, I don't want any of my friends getting hurt just because of me." Tsuna said in a calm, yet caring voice that could make anyone obey him. "DON'T WORRY TO THE EXTREME, OTOUTO! WE ALREADY PROMISED BEFORE WE HEARD YOUR SECRECT TO THE EXTREME!" Ryohei yelled with extremeness. "That's right, Tsuna. Even though I'm a bit upset that you didn't tell us before, this is something that we can tell just _anyone_." Hana reassured. "Tsuna-kun… I'm sorry. Even though we're friends, we didn't know that you were going through this. But now that we know, we'll help you Tsuna. We'll protect you from them and everyone who wants to harm you. We'll always be with you; forever and always." Kyoko said.

"Well said, Kyoko." Takeshi said. "But I'm a demon, Kyoko. Demons are strong, so they don't need protecting. Since I'm strong, I'll be the one who protects all of you. I swear this to all of you guys that I'll always be with you and I'll never leave your side." Tsuna said. Then all of a sudden, Tsuna felt his HI spike up all of a sudden, preparing him for the inventible. _Crap… It doesn't look like I'll be able to escape this one._ Tsuna thought to himself. _Damn it! Just when I don't have to hide anything from them anymore! I know that they'll be sad, so I have to tell them this. I have a feeling that they need to hear this. _"Hana, Takeshi, Onii-chan, Kyoko. I'm sorry, it seems like I can't keep the promise I just made with you." Tsuna said with a pained smile on his face. They all stared back at him confusedly. "What, do you mean, Tsu-" Takeshi tried to ask, but was cut off once he heard a bunch of footsteps approaching them.

"Sawada Tsunayoshi… Your parents were right. You are troublesome to catch. But that's what makes you the perfect specimen for this project of ours, especially with those flames of yours." The man that seemed to be the leader of the group said with an evil smirk. "Oh? What's this? Are they your friends? Hmmm… perhaps we should take them too…" The man trailed off while Hana and Kyoko shivered under his gaze. "No you can't do that… Carl" Tsuna said with a straight face even though he just said a random name since Tsuna didn't know his name while the boss thought _WTF?! Since when was my name Carl?!_

After a brief moment of silence, Takeshi decided to speak up. "Hey Tsuna, do you know him?" Takeshi asked. "No, I don't." Tsuna replied in a calm voice. "Then how do you know his name?" Takeshi asked. "I don't." Everyone sweat dropped at Tsuna's answer. "Then why did you call him Carl?" Takeshi inquired. "I… don't know? Maybe 'cause he looks like a Carl to me?" Tsuna said uncertainly as Carl **(let's just call the boss Carl for now) **started to laugh at the brunet's answer while everyone face palmed at how the brunet could act like this given the current situation. "Anyways… as I was saying before, you can't take them, Carl." Carl suddenly tried to tell Tsuna his real name since he didn't want to be called Carl anymore. Tsuna noticed this but continued anyways. "Everyone will notice if they're gone. They're well-known in Namimori so you won't get away with no one noticing them unlike me. Very little to no one will care if I disappeared. Plus, weren't you after me? I'll come with you without fighting if you let them go." Tsuna bargained.

"True… very true." Carl said as he was considering what Tsuna proposed. "We have a deal then, Sawada Tsunayoshi." Carl said with a sick grin. Tsuna's friends were looking at him with disbelief of what they just said. "Tsuna…" Kyoko trailed off. "Is this what you mean by you couldn't keep your promise? Did you know that it would have ended up like this?!" Takeshi demanded, refusing the fact that even though they said that they would protect Tsuna, they couldn't do it. "A gut feeling told me." Tsuna shrugged and looked away from Takeshi as the boss' eyes looked at Tsuna with curiosity. _Hmmm… could it be that he has Hyper Intuition? This young too? Very interesting indeed…_ The boss thought to himself.

"Well then, let's go now, Sawa-" "Not yet." Tsuna interrupted. "What do you mean?" Carl asked as his gaze hardened on Tsuna. "Let me make sure that they get home safely first. After that, I'll go with you. I swear." Tsuna answered. "Fine. You have 72 minutes to say your goodbyes and what not. If you're not back here by then, then not only will we take you, but your friends too." Carl said. "Hai." Tsuna replied.

ON THE WAY TO THEIR HOUSES

"Why?" Kyoko asked, breaking the tension. "Why what?" Tsuna chuckled dully. Kyoko gritted her teeth. "Why are you willingly following them?! Didn't all of us just swear to always stay by each other?! That we'll protect one another? So _WHY_?!" Kyoko screamed, clearly frustrated before she found herself in Tsuna's embrace. "Didn't I tell you guys already? I'll be the one who protects you guys. You don't have to do anything in return… just by having you guys here with me is all I could ever wish for. You saved me numerous of times when I felt like I couldn't handle everything. You guys are like my life line; without you guys, I probably wouldn't be alive today. I wouldn't have a purpose for living anymore. You too, Takeshi." Tsuna paused a bit before continuing. "Even though both of us knew that your 'friends' were just using you, you didn't complain. You just appreciated the fact that they were around you. You always smiled no matter what happened. You always help people whenever you can, even if you know they hate you, you still do it because you _want_ to do it. You've become someone I aspire to be like, you know?" Tsuna said as everyone's (sans Tsuna) tears began to fall. _I wonder why water's coming out of their eyes… _Tsuna wondered.

"TSUNA!" Kyoya called as he ran towards them. "I finally found you…" Kyoya panted. "Gomen, Kyo-kun. It seems like I'm unable to keep our promise after all." Tsuna apologized to him. "What do you mean, Tsuna? You're safe with now aren't you?" Kyoya asked. Yep, that's right. THE _Hibari Kyoya _actually **asked **a question! Anyways, he only shows emotions when it has anything to do with his close friends, especially Tsuna, since Tsuna was the one who saved Kyoya. "No, I made a deal with the men with cooperating with them so that they wouldn't go after with you guys. They agreed but put a time limit on how long I could spend before going back to them. I have to go soon. It's almost time." Tsuna said as he glanced back at his watch. _27 more minutes before I say goodbye forever? _Tsuna thought bitterly to himself. _Huh? What's this?_ Tsuna thought as he blinked, trying to clear his vision. Then felt something wet going down his left check. He touched his check with his hand. When he felt something wet with his hand, he pulled it back to inspect it, trying to figure out what they were.

When he gave up, he looked back up at his friends only to see them gape at him. He dismissed it though and asked them a question "What are these?" as he pointed to the tear that was going down his check. All of their expressions changed to something that of a murderer planning on how he/she was going to kill their victims before changing into a softer, gentler expression. "Those are something called tears, Tsuna. Tears come out when someone is really hurt or sad and can't take it. They cry when this happens." Kyoya answered gently. "So… I guess this emotion that I'm so used to sadness, huh." Tsuna said as they saw another tear roll down his check as he just smiled ever so gently. Never once had they see Tsuna cry, not when he got bullied, not when they he got life threatening injuries, not when he woke up in the hospital with terrible injuries, not when they saw the sad, yet hopeful and wishful look in his eyes whenever he saw families smiling together when walking around town; hoping for a miracle to come.

They never even _thought _that they would ever see Tsuna cry. Not after everything Tsuna had been through, yet refused to cry and stored all of his tears away. _I wonder… did Tsuna's vault of tears finally brake? _They all wondered to themselves as they saw Tsuna cry years' worth of tears that he always kept to himself. But they couldn't help but wonder if he was really crying everything out or if a part of it was still stored deep inside of him. "I'm sorry for being so selfish… even though I'm doing this to protect all of you, I don't want to leave any one of you. I'm sorry for forcing my own decisions onto you without hearing what you guys have to say. Gomen." Tsuna cried, fruitlessly wiping away his tears with no avail. Once they got a good look at Tsuna, they could've never imagined just how broken Tsuna truly was; the part that he was hiding deep down inside him, the part of his heart where the light couldn't shine upon.

When Tsuna finally stopped crying he said "Arigato, demo I have to go now." When he looked at everyone's expressions, he saw how heart-broken they looked. His HI was telling him that they were planning on following him and attacking those men, but he knew that their efforts would be fruitless. "Don't be like this, you guys. I know what you're all planning and I know that it wouldn't work." Tsuna said. Everyone looked at him in surprise. "HOW DID YOU KNOW TO THE EXTREME?!' Ryohei **extremely** asked. "I guess it's something what you guys would call… 'intuition'? It's something that I've learned to trust a very long time ago. It's what kept me alive for this long." Tsuna answered as he glanced back at his watch. _18 more minutes now… It'll take me about 20 minutes to reach the park, but if I run, I'll make it._ Tsuna thought to himself before he felt his HI telling him again that he has to tell them these words before he goes. So he followed his gut feeling and was able to tell them this time.

"Kyoko, Hana." Tsuna called. The said girls had their attention on him now. "I'm sorry for getting you involved in this. I know that if I told you about this earlier, you guys might have been able to prevent this from happening and help my family. But I didn't want to risk the 'what if my parents found out' scenarios. Your safety and happiness are more important to me. So promise me that no matter what happens, you won't change who you are. That you'll keep on smiling, keep on laughing… promise me that." Tsuna said, eyes flickering from brown to the soft, golden colour they had seen before with a voice filled with concern. Unable to refuse him, Kyoko and Hana swore to never change even when he's gone.

Then Tsuna turned his attention to Kyoya and Ryohei. "Oniichan, Kyo-kun." Tsuna beckoned to them as they approached Tsuna. "I know that the both of you are very strong," earning a hnn and a TO THE EXREME! "But I want you to promise that you won't go looking for me." Tsuna said, earning a glare-from Kyoya- and a disapproving look-from Ryohei.- "No." Both of them said at the same time. Even Ryohei looked serious this time. "If you do, then I won't be able to guarantee your safety." Tsuna stated. "For all you know, the same people who I'm going to leave with might decide to take you guys since you're looking for me. And I don't want that to happen. So promise me." Tsuna pleaded with a puppy dog look that surpasses Giotto's by far. "Fine." They said. Tsuna smiled. "Also, please protect everyone for me. I won't be able to do that anymore now that I'll be gone." Tsuna requested and they agreed.

Finally, Tsuna turned around to face Takeshi. "Takeshi." Tsuna said. "Please remember that even if I'm gone, you won't be alone. Look around you; not only do you have me as a true friend, but Kyoko, Hana, Oniichan, even Kyo-kun too." Tsuna said as Takeshi looked around him and saw all of them nod their heads. "Thanks." Takeshi said with a genuine smile that reached his eyes. Then his smile turned into a one fake once he remembered that Tsuna wouldn't be with them. "I also want you to promise me that you won't do that anymore." Tsuna said. "Do what?" Takeshi asked. "Smiling when you don't truly mean it; a fake smile. If you can't smile genuinely, then I don't see the point in smiling at all."Tsuna clarified. "Ok. I promise, Tsuna." Takeshi promised.

"One more thing, minna." Tsuna said as he gained everyone's attention. "Please protect Gio-niichan from our parents if they do decide to do anything to him. He doesn't know what they've been doing to me since I've kept it a secret for as long as I could remember. He's in the dark with all of this. Also, when he asks about my disappearance, just say that I ran away from home or got kidnapped by strange men if you don't really want to lie to him cause your just hiding part of the truth; but no matter what, **do not** tell him the truth. Do not tell him what I've been through or our parent's true nature. It might be too much for him to handle, it might break him just like they're breaking me." Tsuna pleaded. Once again, everyone felt useless, unable to do anything to help their friend but agreed.

All of a sudden, Tsuna hugged all of them. "Gomen… Gomen… Gomen…" Was all Tsuna could say, as if it was a mantra. The next thing they knew, they began to fall unconscious, unaware that Tsuna pressed their pressure points in order to make them unconscious. The last thing they saw before they blacked out was another lone tear fall from Tsuna's eye as he said "Arigato, and sayonara. I hope we could meet again."

Once all of them were unconscious, Tsuna looked at them one more time before heading toward the park, where Carl and his men were. "I see you kept your word, Tsunayoshi." Carl said as Tsuna entered the park. "Well, I did make a deal with you after all. Since I kept my end of the deal, I expect you to do the same." Tsuna said. "Don't worry about that, Tsunayoshi. Since you didn't break the deal, I don't see why I should break it either. Now come here and drink this." Carl said. Once he saw the worrisome look in Tsuna's eyes, he added "Don't worry. It'll only knock you out. To avoid any unnecessary problems that might pop up." Carl said. Tsuna sensed that Carl was telling the truth so he did what he was told and drank the liquid. The last thing Tsuna could've remembered was feeling dizzy while his vision was turning black as his consciousness began to fade before he blacked out completely.

SOMEWHERE IN ITALY

When Tsuna woke up, he found himself on a table in a room which looked like where scientists would conduct experiments in. As Tsuna was starting to piece things together, he realised that his parents might have sold him to Carl's group to become their guinea pig. Feeling his HI acting up, Tsuna tried to move his body. Only to find out that his hands and legs were secured down to the table that he was currently on. "Welcome to hell, test subject #27, Sawada Tsunayoshi." The man in the lab coat with short blonde hair said to Tsuna as he injected some white fluid into his arm with a needle. All Tsuna could feel was immense pain coursing through his body as he noticed the person making notes.

"Hmm… interesting. Boss was right. It might make more sense to investigate the Vongola blood inside of him instead of actually experimenting on him. Though in my opinion, this will be much worse than what the rest of the kids will ever go have to through." The scientist thought aloud as Tsuna blacked out due to the enormous amount of pain that was coursing through the already injured body of his.

***If only you knew how tempted I was to end this chapter right here, but I decided against it since I wanted to move on to the next part of the story.**

**I CANNOT GUARANTEE THAT THE REST OF THE CHAPTERS WILL BE THIS LONG!**

**Different Language Translation (by using Google translate of course):**

**Yozora- This is the Japanese word for 'Night sky'**

**Ombra Demone- This is the Italian words for 'Shadow Demon'**

**Okaa-san/sama- This is the Japanese word for 'Mom/Mother'**

**Otou-san/sama- This is the Japanese word for 'Dad/Father'**

**Nii-chan- This is the Japanese word for 'Big brother'**

**Un- This is the Japanese word for 'Yeah'**

**Hai- This is the Japanese word for 'Yes'**

**Otouto- This is the Japanese word for 'Little brother'**

**Arigato- This is the Japanese word for 'Thank you'**

**Demo- This is the Japanese word for 'But'**

**It took me weeks on end to finish this chapter since I had to change a few things to it and proof read it! I was just itching to upload this story. Unfortunately, I probably won't be able to update my other story anytime soon since right now, my interest is in this story; so I'm putting **_**"Vongola generations united"**_** on Hiatus. Sorry to all of you readers out there who like this story. I ****might**** update it if I get enough comments from people to continue it though. **

_Nest Chapter's character appearances:_

_Rokudo Mukuro, Dokuro 'Chrome' Nagi, Joshima Ken, Kakimoto Chikusa_

**Word Count: 11, 976**

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